


Temporal Changes

by Rakuyou_Tenshi (Citrus_Luver)



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Childbirth, Community: st_xi_kink, F/M, Female James T. Kirk, Getting Together, Love Confessions, M/M, Pregnancy, Prompt Fill, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-14
Updated: 2017-08-08
Packaged: 2018-10-04 08:02:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10271996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Citrus_Luver/pseuds/Rakuyou_Tenshi
Summary: A what-if tale...What if elder Spock hadn't been the only one to go through the black hole.  What if Jim, or Jane Kirk in this case had followed after him.Or...The tale of how Bones ends up delivering his older, female, pregnant best friend's baby.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story takes place during the 2009 Star Trek movie. Just take it as a Kirk miracle of how Jane could naturally get pregnant at her age. 
> 
> The events of Generations do happen thus I has able to cut Jane's age down to half. I borrowed Shatner's stories for how Kirk comes back to life. 
> 
> Based on a prompt from the old Star Trek XI kink meme community on LJ found [ here ](http://st-xi-kink-meme.livejournal.com/9684.html?thread=9098452#t9098452).

If anyone were to tell Leonard McCoy when all this started, this would be happening.  He would have checked them into a mental hospital.

But somehow this _is_ actually happening.  This _is_ his new reality.

“So we have a crazy Romulan from the future, your present, trying to get revenge on the past, our present.”

It sounds just as crazy in his head as when he says it.

It sounds less real now than when Spock had hypothesized it not even an hour ago.

“Precisely.”  Kirk, Admiral Kirk, Admiral Jane Kirk says.  

A heavily pregnant _female_ version of his best female...

Like it’s not crazy.  Like this happens all the time.

“From a hundred and twenty nine years in the future.” He says apprehensively.  

“Yes.”

“Doctor, I believe it is an ill use of all of our time for you to continue to repeat the same questions over and over again.”

Leonard glares at the hobgoblin.  The hobgoblin who had marooned Jim on an ice planet and then brought this female, older, future version of Kirk on board.  

He notices a smile cross Kirk’s face.  Her wrinkles bunch together.  She looks at them fondly.  In Leonard’s case like she hasn’t seen him in a long time while in Spock’s case an almost sense of longing.

It makes him feel uneasy to see any version of his best friend look at Spock like that.  Especially since the same Spock had just maroon his Jim on an ice planet.

_His Jim…_

He shakes that knot that is starting to form in the pit of his stomach loose.

“He is dangerous.  He will go after all the planets in the Federation.  Jim was right.  Damn it Spock.  We have to go back for him.”

He looks at Kirk.

_Admiral…_

_Jesus Christ…_

_The kid makes admiral._

“Negative doctor.  If we assume what Admiral Kirk is saying is correct, then we must proceed swiftly and rendezvous with the rest of the fleet.  The Enterprise does not have the capabilities to engage in battle against a futuristic enemy.”

Leonard feels his blood pressure climb.

“Now Doctor, why don’t you take the admiral down to sick bay and give her that mandatory physical?”

The momentary look that Leonard is accustomed to getting from Jim likewise flickers across Kirk’s face.  It seems any form of Jim hates physicals.

“Yes, commander.”  Leonard manages to get out.  Kirk follows behind.  The look she gives Spock as they board the turbolift isn’t lost on him.

“Stubborn as always,” she speaks again when they are alone on the turbolift.  She sighs and leans against the elevator.  She rests a hand on her swollen abdomen.

Leonard can’t help but raise his eyebrow.  It causes Kirk to laugh.  

She then stops just as suddenly.  

“Stop turbolift.”  The smile falls her lips.

“What?”  His blood runs cold.

_If…_

“Bones, I need your help.”  

He wonders when _that_ became enough for him to relax, to trust Jim.

“Admiral…”

“Jane,” she says offhand.  “It’s Jane. My Bones never called me Admiral.  It’s equally weird for it to be coming out of his younger self’s lips.”

He wants to say it’s equally true for him to see a female, older version of Jim standing here.

“Lay it on me, Bones.  What happened to my counterpart?”

“Spock marooned him on that ice planet ‘cause he wanted to chase after Nero,” Leonard says warily.

“Wow,” Kirk, Jane, whistles impressed.  “Never knew Spock had it in him.”

“Well, in all fairness I’m sure your Spock never saw his homeworld get destroyed, and his mother murdered before him.”  Leonard snaps.  He can’t believe he just defended Spock.

That look is back on Jane’s face.  That look that makes him feel uneasy.  

There is a part of him that wants to know.  Because from what she said.  That she is from the year 2387, she should be almost 160, but she doesn’t even look half of _that._

“We have to get him back.”

Leonard raises an eyebrow.  She’s pacing now.

“And how do we do that?”

She’s not listening.  Jim never has when he gets like this either.

“And then we have to go after Nero.”

_Go after Nero._

"Stop him from destroying Earth, because Earth is his next stop."

He feels his stomach drop uneasily.  

He had seen what Nero had done to Vulcan.  He doesn't have to even guess what he'll do to Earth.

“Can’t you just overrule him being admiral and all?”  He waves his hand.  “Take command of the Enterprise.”

She stops pacing and looks at him like she’s looking at a little kid.  Jane smiles at him fondly.  She runs her hand over the walls, like she’s coming home.  That she just realizes she’s on the Enterprise.

“I wish I could, but I can’t.”

“Why?”

Jane laughs.  Her wrinkles dance.  “One,” she holds up a finger.  “I’m not of your universe so I can’t override him.  Two,” she holds up another finger.  “I’m pregnant as I’m sure you can tell.  Are you really going to make a pregnant woman fight Nero?”

_Fight Nero..._

He doesn't even like the idea of Jim fighting Nero.

“No.”

“Exactly.”

“So you will help me?”

Leonard deflates.  He’s still kicking himself over not stopping Spock from marooning Jim.  Of course, he’s not going to make that same mistake twice.

“Yes.”

“Good boy Bones.  Now, let’s go get that physical over with.  Restart turbolift.”

Sick bay is surprisingly empty now.  It seems someone had the forethought to empty it out.  He nods to the few nurses still hanging around and the injured crew members still getting treated.  He’s been running around so much since everything went to shit that he doesn’t know most of them by name.  Only the three fellow Medical cadets he had taken classes with.

They look at them, actually probably Jane, curiously.  

The last thing they could have expected is for have a heavily pregnant female to be on board.

He doesn’t have time nor does he know how to explain.

Instead he does neither because as CMO, he doesn’t have to answer to anyone.

He shows her to a biobed in the corner and pulls close the privacy blinds.  If he knows anything about Kirk's, it’s that don’t like to be gawked at.

She sits onto the biobed.  

“Lean back.”

“Yes doctor.”

Leonard picks up a few leads and attaches them to different parts of her body.  

Moments later a string of data is downloaded to the screen attached to the bed.  His eyes widen as he reads the values.

He feels a sudden coldness run through his body as he reads the data. He adjusts the settings because it can’t be.  

It can’t be correct.

“Bones?”

He looks at her.

“Is something wrong with the baby?”  She actually looks scared now.

“No, at least...”  He says hurriedly.  “It’s just…”

He waves his hand.

“It's part Vulcan?”

“Yes.”  

Her eyes soften.

“The father…”  Technically the father doesn't matter, but the part of him, the part that is Bones and not Dr. McCoy does care.

“Bones,” she rests her hand on her swollen abdomen.  “We both know who the father is.”

“Spock.”  He says.

_Christ…_

“Yes.”  She confirms.  

She seems sad though.

“Maybe you should explain.”

“I don’t…” She closes her mouth.  “Fine, but Bones, remember this is what happened in my world.  It doesn’t have to happen here.”

_She knows._

He doesn’t know how, but she knows.

What he hadn’t known until a few days ago.

_Nexus and an Enterprise B…_

_A star that goes supernova…_

_An older Spock, the one Nero is actually seeking vengeance on, had who promised to save Romulus..._

_Red matter created by the Vulcan Science Academy…_

_And finally a black hole..._

It’s more than Leonard could have imagined.

He makes sure to file it all away.

As for the baby…

Pon Farr and too many years of unacted upon emotion which has accumulated to a night of passion...

Without her going into detail, Leonard can already piece together what happened.  And it doesn’t make him feel any better.

“Damn green blooded hobglobin.”

That smile is back on Jane’s face.

The one that makes more sense now, but still no less easy to reconcile.

“I didn’t even know it was possible at my age.”  Jane smiles as she rubs her belly fondly.  “I thought after David I would never have another chance.”

Leonard doesn’t ask who David is.  It’s clear it makes her sad.  She cups her abdomen.  “It’s a miracle.”

“That’s something Kirk's are known for I’ve heard.”

She looks at him, her hazel, not blue eyes, widen.  “Yeah.”  She finally says.

He stands up.

“Where you going?”

“Get you some meds.  Since Vulcan genes dominate human genes and humans don’t have green blood, you’ll probably start rejecting the baby judging from the amount of time you’ve been away from your medicine.”  

She flinches.  He doesn’t mean to come off angry, but for some reason he is.  She doesn’t complain when he injects her with the hypospray.  

“Thanks Bones.”

He nods.  “Come on.”

She looks up at him.

“Where we going?”

“Get you some food.”

“But…”

He glares at her.

“Yes mom.”

He looks at her.  

Of course Spock wouldn’t have noticed.  

Man had about as much common sense as a computer.

He can’t believe he didn’t though.

“Wait a second.”

He returns with a handful of clothes.  “There’s a sonic in the back.”  He motions.  

“Thanks.”  She takes the clothes and disappears.  Leonard waits for her.  She comes back twenty minutes later.  

She looks younger, different and right.  He wonders if Jim would similarly look right in his own gold shirt.

Then he’s reminded that Jim is still on academic probation.  That he shouldn’t even be here.  That he’s only here because he had snuck him on board.

There is a part of him that believes it can’t still stand under the present circumstances, but this is the admiralty they are talking about.  They have never made life easy for Jim.

“Haven’t been in gold in a long time.”  She says as she tugs on her collar which brings him back to reality.  “I forgot how short the skirts were too.” She pats the pelts of her skirt.

Leonard raises an eyebrow.

“In my time, they phased out the gold a few years after I got promoted to admiral.”

Leonard nods.

They make their way to the mess hall.  He sees the way Jane’s eyes light up.  “I’m jealous,” she finally confesses.

Leonard turns.

“My Enterprise was never this big nor had a crew this large.  She was good ship though.  I’m sure this version of her will be good to you too.”

He doesn’t comment that this isn’t really his ship.  In fact, he’s not even sure they, he, will be back on the Enterprise when everything is over.

If it's over, he quickly amends.

When they arrive at the mess hall, Leonard finds out where the Vulcans have gone.  They are stoically sipping something.

“Plomeek,” Jane’s eyes widen.  “Never thought I would get it here.”  

“Plomeek?”

“Vulcan comfort food,” she explains.  “Only thing I could eat for months.”  She caresses her abdomen fondly.  “Never thought I would find it on the Enterprise.”

Leonard doesn’t comment that he doubts it normally is served on the Enterprise, and that someone in the crew had the foresight to program it in.  He orders Jane a bowl of it and himself a bowl of chicken noodle soup.  He knows his Jim well enough to know she won’t eat alone.  They take a table in the corner for two.

“So much sadness,” she says sadly.  

Leonard cocks his head.

“They don’t express themselves, but you can tell it’s taking a lot out of them to hold it in.  Years of training.”

Leonard doesn’t know the intricacies of the Vulcan emotion rejection.

He merely grunts his acceptance.

“So Spock and Uhura, never saw that coming.  Poor Chapel.”  Jane says between sips of her soup.

Leonard raises an eyebrow.  He isn’t one to gossip, but…

“What you talking about?”

“Spock and Uhura or Chapel?”

“Both, neither…”

He’s worked with Chapel at Starfleet Medical.  They have spent many late hours on shift together.  She’s also very much engaged to a young botanist.  He’s not that familiar with Uhura.  He knows more of her through Jim as the girl who he laments frequently about rejecting his advances.

However he’s not comfortable about discussing either one of their relationship status, especially not with an alternative, female older version of Jim.

“Spock and Uhura are totally a ‘thing’, Bones.”  She crosses her fingers together.

“That’s completely…”

Jane presses her finger to his lips.  “Trust me on this Bonesy.”  She wags her eyebrows.

“Call it female intuition.”

He calls it bogus, but he doesn’t have time to argue further when his com goes off.


	2. Chapter 2

And then there is Jim with a water logged man he has never met before at his heels on the view screen.

They are running through engineering with an angry security detail chasing after them.

He doesn’t even know how Jim got back especially since they are currently traveling at warp speed.  He’s not an expert at warp theory, but he’s pretty sure _that_ is impossible.  But then again this is Jim Kirk, a man known for beating the impossible.

When Jim shows up on the bridge, he looks sure and cocky.  Like this is his ship.  Like the security guards are his escort instead of his guards.

Leonard doesn’t miss the fleeting, passing glance that Jim gives him before he stands up to Spock.

Of course he doesn’t answer when Spock asks he got back.   

Leonard isn’t sure he won the Scotsman over so fast, but the man follows Jim easily and surely.  Then again Leonard does know.

It’s a Jim Kirk trait.  He wins people over easily.  He has a way with people that just seems to bleed trust.

Hell, He, himself, had been one such example.

He can tell Jim has some sort of plan.  The way his eyes are blaring and blazing.

But even Leonard never expected _this_.

Because the Jim Kirk he knows is not cruel.  He can be an arrogant, conceited bastard but never cruel.  But here is, berating and hectoring Spock about not feeling his mother’s death, the destruction of his home planet.

It’s especially jarring when just moments earlier, an older, female version of Jim Kirk was just telling him how much pain the Vulcan survivors were feeling.

As a result, he is too stunned to do anything when Spock starts to choke Jim against the console panel.  And he watches as Spock’s father of all people stop Spock from _killing_ Jim.

Then before he can do his duty, before he can tell Spock to stand the fuck down, Spock goes and relieves himself of command.  He catches Uhura’s eyes.  For a second, he wonders if this is what Jane saw.  Because now that he's aware of it, he can see it plainly.

He has no hesitation that she’s wrong.  Because the way she looks at Spock, is exactly the way he looks at Jim when he’s hurt.

He turns to Jim then.  The cocky bastard who is grasping for breath as he stumbles across the bridge.  Because this day can’t get any weirder than it already has, because there is no way it can be _this_ easy, he says the first thing out his mouth.

“Damn it Jim, now we have no captain and no first officer.”

Then because the universe has to screw with him for the second time today, Sulu has to go and confirm what he already knows.

Because of course this is the case.

Because of course Jim Kirk forges his own plan.

Of course, he's now acting captain and most importantly, _they_  are going to stop Nero.

Untill he doesn't.

He goes back to the CMO’s office, his office he corrects himself, because he’s too nervous to go anywhere else.  

He’s CMO, and Jim is captain of the Enterprise just like the world Jane had come from.

Also because he’s hoping Jane is there.  

Because of all the people on the Enterprise, he finds her to be the easiest to talk to sans Jim, and because she deserves to know.  Also because of everyone on the Enterprise, she knows the most about Nero.

She is there.  

She’s is all smiles and seems to be talking to her swollen belly.  It’s a sight that tugs at his heartstrings.

Because even though this isn’t her world, Leonard knows she has earned this happiness.

“Bones, you look awful.”

“Thanks,” he says warily.

Before he can stop her, she’s out of her chair, with a quickness that shouldn’t be possible at her age and size.  She’s standing in front of him.  

He notices then she’s shorter than Jim.  

But what she lacks in height, she makes up for in presence.

She takes his hand.  Unlike Jim’s, it has been hardened with time and wear.  He feels each callus and fold of skin.

She leads them to his couch.

“Sit.”

He complies.

“Close your eyes.”

He feels her fingers run over his temple, down his neck and over his shoulders.  She works through each knot and tension.  She’s muttering words he can’t understand as she goes.

It’s like she’s singing.

He finds himself falling asleep.

His eyelids become heavier and heavier.

He does fall asleep, and he feels absolutely guilty when he awakes up.

Jane is sitting beside him.  She’s reading a book, a real honest to God book.  He doesn’t even know where she got that from.  She also has a pair of glasses on.

“Welcome back sleepy head.”  She grins as she closes the book.

“I…” he fumbles.

“You needed it Bones.  You were going to run yourself ragged.”

“How long?  Jim!  Damn it.”  He curses himself because if anything happened to Jim while he was sleeping.

“Relax Bones, you were only out for a hour.”

He opens and closes his mouth because he feels like he’s been out for hours.

“It’s a technique I learned from a group of aliens.”  She doesn’t elaborate further which is probably for the best.  “Useful when I need to quick nap.  Use it too often than I should.  Better than stims though.”  

He doesn’t doubt that.

“How you doing?”  Because he feels guilty.

“Tired, sore, short of breath, fat.”  Jane lists off.  There is no malice in her voice though.  “Ready for this be over with.  Thought with a quarter Vulcan baby, it’ll only go for nine months at most, but the docs back home say it’ll be the full eleven.”

Leonard understands.  He had spent a few weeks doing OBGYN rounds during his residency.  Then at the Academy where he had pulled shifts wherever he was needed.

“Little bugger kicks up a real storm.”  She grimaces.  “Strong too.”  She puts her hand on the side her belly.  "And the head of a bowling ball."

That part has been bugging him.

How anyone let her come here.  He doesn’t know much about Vulcan/human hybrid pregnancies.  But he knows there are complications.

And the fact she is far along.  Much farther than the recommended time frame for when a person should be reasonably grounded.  Unless her universe and time has messed up standards.

But then again, is that even a question?

“I can see the wheels turning in your head, Bones.”  Jane chides.  “They didn’t.  When I heard what was happening, like the Vulcans can keep it a secret.”  She licks the side of her lips.  

“As much as he tries, especially in old age.”  Leonard swears he hears something about ‘Romulan Vulcan reconciliation’ under her breath but doesn't comment about it.  “Spock isn’t much of a fighter.  He’s more of thinker.”

“So you went after him.”

“Exactly.  Cashed in some favors and got myself a vessel.  Was gone before anyone knew about it."

She rubs her abdomen.  

“When I got there, where Romulus was," she waves her hand, "well I put two and two together.”

“And you went through.”

“Naturally.”  

“Of course.”  He feels like he's going to pop a blood vessel.  

"But black hole travel is strange.  I went through before Spock or Nero but arrived before Spock but long after Nero.  Don't even know where or when Spock is."  

She seems sad.

He doesn't know what to say about _that_.

“You seem younger.”  She suddenly says.  “You all do.”

Leonard blinks.  He should be used to _this._  Jim going on a tangent to avoid something.

“In my world, we didn't meet untill much later.  But you seem to know Jim... well.”

“We went through the Academy together.  Met on a shuttle out of Riverside.”

She looks wistful when he says  _that._

“Must have been nice,” she finally says.

“Was, is.”  He quickly amends.

Because Jim had grounded him, kept him from drowning in alcohol and murdering the incompetent interns he was forced to mentor.

It reminds him that Jim is up on the bridge right now.  That they are going after Nero.  He can’t believe he forgot.

“Jim needs our help.”

“Of course.”  The no nonsense expression appears on her face.

“If there’s anything you can tell us about Nero and his ship.”

“Only what Spock told the Vulcan council which isn’t much, unfortunately.”  Jane rubs her belly.  “He was, is a miner.  His ship is a mining vessel.”

It makes sense since the ship is equipped with a drill.

“But it shouldn’t be this powerful.”  She adds.  “The Romulan vessels even in my time were never this powerful.”

“Well, he’s been here for twenty five years.  Killed Jim’s dad.”

Jane’s eyes widened.  He wonders if he should have said _that_.

“Dad inspired me to join Starfleet.  He was so proud when I was given the Enterprise.”  Jane shakes her hand.  “Of course there is a part of him that wishes I hadn’t.  That I would settle down with David.”

It’s that name again.

_David…_

He fears something terrible happened.

“Almost Borg like.”

“Borg?”

“Nasty buggers, robotic.”  Jane waves her hand.  “But that ship’s core must still be roughly Romulan.  If you could get on it, it would be possible to disable it.”

“Get on it?”  His eyebrow raise.

Before he can comment further.  He hears arguing from outside.

“I aen’t hurt.  Just need a fresh change of clothes.”

He recognizes it as the voice of the Scotsman Jim had brought onboard.  

_Montgomery Scott…_

“Hold on.”  He gets up and walks outside.

“What’s going on?”  He curses.

One of the nurses and Mr. Scott freeze at the same time.  They turn to him.

“Doctor, ma’am.”

He hadn’t expected Jane to follow him.

“Scotty!”  She grins, immediately pulling the bewildered man into a hug.

He’s wide eyed as he looks at Leonard from around her shoulder.

She pulls away.  There is a huge grin on her face.

“You don’t know who I am do you?”

“No, sorry lassie.  Should I?  Because if I did, I definitely didn't meant it.”

“Jane Kirk.”

His eyes widen further.  He looks at Leonard.  

“Does Jim know about this?”  

Leonard shakes his head.

“Good because he can’t.  It’ll have galactic repercussions.  It’ll shatter the time space continuum causing some universe ending paradoxes.“

Leonard raises an eyebrow.  Jane just breaks into laughter.

“What nonsense you spewing?”  He grabs a tricorder and starts to scan the man, who thankfully doesn’t protest.

“This… this…”  Scotty goes red.  “He lied to us!”  He finally gets out.

He closes his tricorder, aside for some malnutrition and being cold, he seems mostly okay.  “Nurse, can you get the man some clothes?”

“Thank you, Doctor.”  He does look grateful when the nurse gives him the clothes and a towel.  She doesn't look pleased though.

“Bones.” Jane looks at him.  He can tell what she wants to say.

_Jim…_

He needs to help Jim.

She looks tired.  He sees the way she’s leaning against the biobed now.  How she’s putting her whole weight against it.  

It’s not like he’s going to use it anytime soon anyways if at all. Because he knows a shitstorm is about to occur.

“It’s 5-2-1-3, any of the consoles in the corridors should be able to direct you to the CMO quarters.”  Because he's not quite sure where it is himself.

“Bones.”  She whines.

“I’ll come check on you, so you better be asleep.”

She looks at him before sighing.

"Fine," she pouts.

By then Scotty has returned.  He looks at them confused.

“Come on Mr. Scott.  Jim needs us.”  

“But what about?”  He points to Jane.

“She’s getting some rest.”  He answers easily.

When they get back to the bridge, Jim is hosting an open discussion with his navigator and helmsman.  They are discussing trajectories and warp speed; everything that immediately flies over Leonard’s head. 

However the same is not true for Mr. Scott who immediately leaps into the discussion.

Leonard feels his heart almost twist in half at the ease Jim slides into an easy familiarity with Spock that even involves cracking jokes.  It’s worse when he remembers Jane who is hopefully now in his quarters who had fallen in love with her Spock in her time.  

Now that Jim has his captaincy he seems to have completely forgotten that hours earlier this same man had not only accused him of cheating but then marooned him on an ice planet and then tried to kill him.

Leonard on the other hand doesn’t forgive so easily.

“Bones?”

Jim slides up to him.  There is a look in his eyes. It’s hesitant.  

Scared…

Nervous...

He hates that they are on the bridge and not somewhere quiet, private…

“We should talk.”

“Yeah.”  His heart skips a beat.

“When I get back.”

He nods.

“Good luck.”  It’s all he can offer as Jim steps onto the turbolift.  He feels his heart tug a bit, a biting sensation.

He discovers almost immediately he can’t stand to wait on the bridge for the inevitable.

He manages to find the CMO quarters.  

Upon entering, he indeed finds Jane on the bed asleep in only her underwear.  A blush creeps up on his face.

The blankets are bunched up at her feet.  There is a stack of pillows under her belly.  

Her hands are wrapped protectively around her belly.

He shakes his head when he notices she still has her boots on.  Her book is lying beside her, and her glasses are skewed.

He thinks she must a deep sense of trust in them to not feel the need to be in on the action.  

He thinks of Jim on the other ship.

His heart skips a beat.

Because he too can’t do anything.

He gently pulls off her shoes than her socks.  He smiles at the red nail polish on each of her toes.  They are starting to fade and chip away.

There is tiny bear like creature with sharp fangs and sack of bones tattooed to her left foot.  

He doesn’t think too much about it as he draws the blankets upwards.

It’s then he notices a trail of bruises on her belly.  Bruises he hadn’t noticed before.  He frowns as he bends down.

He runs his finger over it.  

It’s black and blue…

When he picks up his finger, he notices a faint trace of residual powder on his finger.

“Damn it Jane,” he curses.

“Bones?”  Jane’s eyes flutter open.

“Bruises?”

“I told you the kid has strong kicks.”

“It’s not supposed to give you bruises, damn it.”

“Got used to it.”  Jane grunts as she tries to turn over, like she's trying to avoid him.

“Jane.”

“I’m fine Bones.  Really.”

It’s then he feels the ship jump.  It causes himself to lose his footing.  He catches himself before he lands on her.

Almost seconds later his com flashes.

“Bones?”

“Come down to sick bay.  I’ll give you something for it.”  He grumbles, but his heart is pounding as he thinks about Jim.

“Aye aye Bones.”


	3. Chapter 3

Leonard McCoy doesn’t know how Jim did it, but he did.  As he runs to the transporter room, there is Jim, whole and beautiful and alive.  

Leonard almost wishes he could kiss him then and there, and everyone else in the room be damned.

But he doesn’t…

Instead he lets out a ‘Jim’.  It’s filled with all the relief that he has bottled up in his body now that he knows Jim is alive and whole.

“Bones.”

It’s only then that he notices Captain Pike hunched over with Jim supporting all his weight.  He immediately rushes forward to help Jim bear some of the weight.  He shouts out “Chapel” to the nurse following him.

It feels like a bolt of lightning passes through them during the exchange.  He looks at Jim.  At those blazing blue eyes and relunctantly pulls away.

_Now isn’t the time, Leonard._

Jim has to go to the bridge, and he has to do his job.

He has to save Pike.  The man looks like he has gone through hell and back.  

In the back of Leonard's mind, he tells himself that he probably has.

He drowns himself in surgery.  It’s brutal.  A slip is enough to render Pike disabled for life.

There is a part of him that is thankful for the last three years.  The neural spine regeneration surgery that he has been pioneering.  The same surgerical procedure that he going to use in his defense the exact same surgery he uses now on Pike.

There is a part of him that knows he's going to receive a hell of a lot of backlash for using experimental surgery, but damn it.  He took an oath.  He's going to save him.

Chapel mops his forehead and gives him each instrument as he calls for it.  They work together as if they have for years.

And finally, finally he’s done.

He's stable and alive.  

They roll him into recovery, and Leonard is finally able to peel away the layers.

He files his chief medical officer logs and updates Pike's medical files.  He's not going to hand the admiralty any more leverage on him.

Once everything is back in order, he goes back.  Pike is still asleep.

“Christopher Pike.”

He almost jumps out of his skin.  

He looks over his shoulder to see Jane standing there.  She’s carrying a tray of food.  He raises an eyebrow.

In the commotion of all that has happened, he forgot he asked her to come down here.  “You’re late.”

“Never set a time, Bones, so I can’t be late.”  

He catches her grimace.  He sets down his tricorder and sits her down in a chair.  He takes the tray of food away before walking to the medicine cabinet.

He sees there is a faraway look on her eyes.  He wonders what she’s thinking, seeing all these people younger.  People she knew.

He doesn’t know what Jane’s relationship with her Pike is, but his Jim, damn he really needs to talk to Jim, had been extremely close to Pike, a father he never had.

He comes back with a hypospray.  “This should help with the discomfort.”  

She nods, and he injects it into the side of her neck.  

“Damn Bones, where have you been all my life?”

Leonard doesn’t answer that and instead gives her the other spray.  “Here, for tonight, later, in case it wares off.”  In space, there is no days or nights.

“Thanks.”  She pockets it quickly like he’ll have second thoughts.  She looks back at Pike.

“He’ll be okay.”  Leonard says because she seems to want to know.  There is a look in her eyes.   

“I didn’t know the Pike in my world very well.  He was my predecessor of the Enterprise, Spock’s first captain.”  

“He recruited Jim.  Challenged him.  Jim told him he would graduate in three years.  Somehow resulted in me also having to graduate in three years.”

Jane laughs.  “Sounds like something I would do.”  She rubs her abdomen.

Leonard laughs too.

He reaches for the food.  He picks up the sandwich and breaks it in half.  “Here.”

“I…”

“Don’t tell me you aren’t hungry.”

“Wasn’t.”  She takes it.  “You’re just like my Bones.”

He raises an eyebrow.  

“Always making me eat.  Always telling me to eat my greens, rabbit food.”  She looks down at her abdomen.  “I’m just glad she didn’t turn me into a vegetarian.”

“It’s a girl?”

“I think so.”  Jane smiles.

“You don’t know?”

“I like surprises.”

“Of course.”  Leonard nods.  He bites into his sandwich.  He hadn’t realized how hungry he was until that moment.  Jane seems pleased.

It’s then his mind wanders to Jim and if he has eaten.  If he has slept.

What happened to Nero and the Narada.  Were there any survivors?

“Jim did it.  Nero is gone.”  It’s like she can read his mind.  "Naturally, of course."  She sets her hand on her abdomen and doesn't elaborate further.

He can’t help but shake his head. Even age and time doesn’t seem enough to remove the cockiness from Jim Kirk.  It’s also reassuring.

“Dr. McCoy, what is a pregnant woman doing on my ship?”

Pike is strong man to be able to pull out a string of coherent thoughts and then be able to string them together into spoken words.  But then again, Pike isn’t a normal man.

It takes a certain breed of man to rein Jim Kirk in.

Then for it be the first thing Pike says when he opens his eyes.

_Command people…_

“She’s Admiral Jane Kirk.”  Leonard responds.  He knows better to ask Pike to calm down as he scans his readings.

He sees Pike’s eyes widen.

“Dr. McCoy...”

“He speaks the truth Captain.”  Jane pulls herself up from her chair and leans over Pike.  “I come from the same universe as Nero.

Pike whistles.

“Admiral huh?”

Leonard sees the smile.

“Kid makes Admiral.  Kid becomes a parent.  It’s not something I could have ever imagined.”  Pike pats her hand.  “Who’s the father, if I might ask?”

Jane glances as Leonard, who nods.

“Spock.”

Pike laughs.  He laughs so hard he starts to cough.

“Captain!”

“Sorry.  Sorry.  What does Lieutenant Uhura think of that one?”

Jane gives him the ‘what did I tell you look?’

Then Pike says it.

“Truth to be told I always thought if Kirk ended up with anyone it would be with you, McCoy.”

And then Jane really stares at him.

The ‘don’t be stupid like I was’ look…

“Captain Pike.”  

He can’t just _leave_.

“We’ll be fine.  Won’t we, Admiral?”

“Yep.  Go get him, Bonesy.”  Jane throws up two thumbs.

Of course he doesn’t just go up to the bridge.  It’s not that simple.

Because no matter what Jane and even fuck, what Pike thinks, he doesn’t know what Jim thinks.

_Jim…_

_His best friend…_

He feels like he’s thirteen again and worrying about confessing to the girl next door.  Except back then, that was just the girl next door, not his best friend.

He doesn’t know what possessed him to go up the observation deck.  

“Bones?”

His heart sinks.

He looks to see Jim leaning against the window.  He’s tired.  He looks like he has aged ten years.  

There are angry black bruises around his neck.  

There is a part of him that wants to drag Jim down to sick bay because he can tell from the way Jim is carrying himself there are more bruises on his body hidden by the clothes he's wearing.  

The black undershirt Leonard had conned from the quatermaster when this all started.

But he can tell equally that isn’t what Jim needs.

There is a look in his eyes, a look that tells him they need to talk.

"Is Pike?"  Jim suddenly looks worried.  The way he's looking at Leonard like he's trying to get information out of him.

"Fine, stable you can see him later."  Leonard rushes out because Pike is safe.  Pike isn't...

Jim takes a breath of air but that look is still there.

“Jim?"

“What are you doing up here?  Last place I’d expect you to be.”

A sort of almost panic surges through him.  

What if that is exactly why Jim is here.

_To avoid him?_

“Bones?”  Worry lines cross Jim’s brow.  Leonard wishes he could wipe them away.

“Thought you weren’t fond of flying.”

“Things changes.”  

Jim blinks.  His blue eyes widen for a moment before softening.  “Yeah, I guess they do.”

The words are a whisper, barely audible but for Leonard it couldn’t be louder.

For a moment, it’s like they are the only two people in this big, dark universe.  

“Jim.”

“Bones.”

“We should talk.”  They say at the same time.  They laugh at the same time.  

Jim ruffles the back of his neck.  Something he does when he’s unsure.

As they stand there…

On the observation deck with the star passing them by…

Leonard realizes the truth.  The truth that he had failed to see for so long.  The truth that had been there all long.

“If I had to guess, I would think we want to say the same thing.”

“Yeah?”  

The hope in Jim’s eyes is so bright.

“Yeah.”  Leonard nods.

He suddenly feels young, younger than he has felt in a long time.  And when Jim takes his hand into his, the warmth, the ease they slide together.  

Almost like two puzzle pieces…

_It’s right._

_It’s them._

And the way Jim looks at him, with so much hope and love…

He knows they don’t have to say it.

He almost laughs when Jim tries to hide his yawn.  And really, he’s tired too.

“Let’s go to bed.”

“But…”  Jim protests because it is Jim.

“Hobglobin had handle the chair for a few more hours.”

Jim opens his mouth then quickly closes it as another yawn comes upon him.

It’s a testament to how tired Jim is when he doesn’t fight the sleep.  He sends a message to the bridge before pulling off his boots.

The standard issue bed is too small to fit them both comfortably.  He knows his back will hate him for it later.

But at the moment neither complains.  Neither cares.

Jim is as warm as a furnace pressed up against Leonard’s body.  The heat and Jim’s shallow breathing is enough to lure Leonard to sleep.

 

XXXXXXXXX

 

He awakes with a start when his com goes off.  He grabs it in the dark and flips it open.  He places it against his ear and grunts his acknowledgement.

“Bones.”

His eyes snap open.

_Jim…_

But then he feels a warmth and shallow breaths that tickles his cheeks.

It’s not Jim.  

Jim is next to him.

It’s Jane.

“Bones, I think my water just broke.”


	4. Chapter 4

He jumps out of bed and grabs his tricorder.

“Where are you?”

“Jefferies tube in engineering.”

“What?”

“Bones, please…”  Leonard detects a faint trace of panic in her voice.

“Stay there.  I’m coming.”

“Bones?”  His Jim asks as he closes his communicator.  He’s sleepy and tired.  He rubs his eyes and blinks.  

“Go back to sleep, darlin’.”

“Nu uh,  I heard that.  What’s going on?”

Jim is the captain, acting captain.  He has the right to , even if it’s his counterpart.  He wonders how he’s supposed to tell Jim after what just occurred.  

He knows it’s a different universe.

That what happens in one universe doesn’t mean much in another.  

But…

No, he has more trust in Jim than _that_.  

“Fine, come on.  Easier to just show you than to explain.”

He gives Jim more credit when he doesn’t protest and actually follows.  

When he arrives in engineering, a crowd seems to have gathered around one of the entrances.  Leonard doesn’t even have to guess where it leads to.  

He sees Scotty in the corner looking guilty.

“She wanted to help.”  Leonard rolls his eyes.  He doesn’t have time right now to lecture Scotty about letting a pregnant woman climb into Jefferies tubes.

He also wouldn’t put it past Jane to not have divulged how far along she is to Scotty.

“Damn it people.  Give the lady some privacy.”  Leonard snaps as he pushes the crowd aside.  Jim follows closely behind.

He hears her before he sees her.  

He pulls himself inside the narrow space.  He crawls around the turn and sees her leaning against the wall.  She looks absolutely miserable as she’s cradling her abdomen.

She doesn’t seem to notice him.  Her eyes are squeezed shut.  She seems to be working through a contraction.

There is a puddle of clear liquid around her.

“Bones?”

He hadn’t realized Jim had followed after him.  He wishes they would stop doing that.

“Who’s that?”

From the way he’s acting, Leonard wonders if subconsciously he already knows.

“Admiral Jane Kirk.”  He answers for her.  “She’s…”

“From an alternate universe,” Jim finishes.  “Like Nero and…”  He trails off.   Leonard doesn’t comment and instead pulls out his tricorder.  He waits for her to open her eyes.  

“Bones, you came.”

“Of course.”

_Always_

“Jim.”

“Admiral.”

He wonders if this is as weird for her and Jim as it is for him.  

She laughs, clearly amused while Jim looks less amused.  In fact there is almost a panicky look on his face.  “This probably isn’t how you pictured meeting yourself.”

“No.”

She grimaces.  He frowns.  The time between her contractions are alarmingly close.  He scans her abdomen and double takes at the readings.

“Bones?”  She asks.

“Damn it Jane.  Why didn’t you say anything.”

She actually looks guilty.  

“That you were this close.”

“You assumed.”

“You implied.”  He glares at the readings.

“They weren’t kicks but contractions, weren’t they?”

“To be fair, I thought it was Braxton Hick’s.”

“Braxton Hick’s aren’t constant.  This… you’re almost at transition.”  He’s close to snapping his tricorder in half.

“You’re angry with me.”

Leonard sighs.  He rests his hand on her abdomen and grimaces at how hard it is.  He can’t believe he missed the signs himself.  “No, just frustrated, at you and myself for not realizing you’re in labor.”

“Labor,” Jim yips.  They both turn to look at him.  He suddenly looks pale.  “As in about to have a…”

“A baby,” Leonard finishes.   “Yes, Jim.  That’s usually what being in labor means.”

“But… but…”  

Jim closes his mouth when Jane glares at him.  The effect is lost she lets out a tiny moan like she’s trying to hide the pain.  

“Can’t you give her something?”

“Too late, it’s going to come soon.”

“In my Jefferies tube?”  It’s Scotty’s voice this time.  Leonard rolls his eyes.  At this rate, the whole Enterprise crew will be upon them.  He doesn’t know much about Jane but if she’s anything like Jim, he knows she’ll want her privacy.

They turn to see Scotty.  He’s halfway through.  There is a part of Leonard that wants to yell at him.  Because it’s partly his fault, she’s here and not in sick bay.

“God no, it’s filthy.”  He looks at the oil dripping near them. He pulls out his communicator.   “McCoy to sickbay.”

“M’Benga here.”

Leonard vaguely remembers that M’Benga had done his residency on Vulcan, or what was Vulcan.  He files that away in case something goes wrong.  Technically the baby is more human than Vulcan, but Spock who is half Vulcan and half human looks almost pure Vulcan.  He has a feeling the baby despite being a fourth Vulcan, its Vulcan genes would dominate over its human genes.

“We got a IAL.  Prep a biobed.  HR.   Send a nurse to engineering with a stretcher.”

“Aye.”

“McCoy out.”  He flips close his tricorder.

He notices that Jane’s legs are shaking.  

Vulcan is warmer than Earth or the Enterprise.  “Mr. Scott, find some heat lamps and take them to med bay.  As many as you can find.”

“Aye doctor.”  

He rolls his eyes as he hears Scotty retreat away.  

He turns back to Jane and Jim.  Jim has leaned himself against the opposite wall.  He looks ready to faint.  

Jane meanwhile looks amused.  There is a cat caught the canary look on her face.

He goes to Jim first.  “You okay?”  He sets his hand on Jim’s arm.  Jim looks at him.  

He bites his lip then nods.  “Yeah, I’ll be fine.  Just give me a second.”

“You got it.”  He almost wants to kiss him then and there but decides against it.  He runs his fingers over his arm before going back to Jane.

There is only so much he can do with a tricorder.  

He’ll have to check her.

And that isn’t strange at all.

He’s a doctor damnit.  Jim might be his friend and now… now something more.  He turns to look at Jim again.  While Jane, she’s Jane, not Jim.

He’s got to get that difference through his head.  That it isn’t Jim giving birth, but Jane.   It’s not really his best friend.

“Bones?”

It’s hard since she keeps calling him _that_.

“I need to check if the baby is positioned correctly.”  

Jane nods.  She looks at him amusedly as he runs his hands over her swollen abdomen.  The baby’s kicks are strong.  

“You told him, huh?”  She’s grinning again.

“Not going to answer that.”  However he feels a smile appear on his lips, which he knows betrays him since Jane’s grin widens.  

“Atta boy, Bones!”

“That’s Spock’s baby.”

They turn to look at Jim, stunned.  He hadn’t told Jim, and Jane definitely couldn’t have.  Besides him and Jane, nobody else knows the identity of the baby’s father.

“Jim?”

“Not our Spock obviously.”  Jim waves his hand as if it’s obvious.  “The other Spock, the one where you come from.”

He feels Jane take a breath that isn’t due to her labor, which is progressing faster than he expected.

_Damn…_

_Where are his nurses?_

At this rate, she will be having the baby here.

“I met him.  He melded with me.  Christ, I saw images, images of you and him.  But…”. Jim trails off.  He suddenly looks sad.

It’s almost like they are having a conversation between themselves.

It’s broken when another contraction hits.  She’s straining.

She’s pushing.

_Fuck..._

“Can’t you give her something?”  Jim is first to snap out of it.

“Too late,” he curses at the readings.  He drops it.  He looks apologetically at Jane who simply nods between her pushing as he hikes up her skirt.  

_Shit._

Her lips are bulging outwards.  It’s folding around the edgings of her underwear.  Leonard pulls it down to her ankles to reveal a mass of dark black hair peeking out.

 _“_ Oh my god, Bones, there’s a little person coming out of her.”

“Jim,” Leonard grits his teeth.  He feels Jim’s heat against his ear.  

He loves Jim.  He really does, but he is definitely not helping.

“It’s like right there, Bones.”  Jim gasps.

It’s not that Jim isn’t right because he is.  It’s just well…

He doesn’t want to admit it, and it’s not like he hasn’t done _this_ before.  Because he is a doctor damn it.

It’s just he never thought he would be delivering his best friend, now lover’s, alternate reality self’s baby.

He looks at Jane.  There is a bemused look on her face.  He doesn’t understand how out of the three of them right now, she can be the calm one.

She’s in fact perfectly, ridiculously calm about all of this.

In fact, she’s look completely at peace with everything.

Giving birth….

In the Jefferies tubes with him and Jim there.

“Fuck, Bones.”

“How’s that going?”  Jane smirks.

The look on Jim’s face…

It’s priceless.

“I like my Vulcans, but I can’t deny my Bones wasn’t talented.”

Leonard feels himself getting hot, but it’s nothing compared to how red Jim becomes.  He never thought Jim would blush at this, not that Leonard can’t help but find it endearing.

“His hands, they are legendary…"

Leonard feels awful, but he’s definitely grateful that another contraction hits her.  She grimaces and caresses her swollen abdomen.

“Doctor.”  He hears Scotty before he appears around the corner.  There is a slight sheen to his face.  He looks like he had been running.  “They are ready for her.  Got a stretcher right outside.”

“Thank God.  Come on.  Let’s get this baby out of you.”

“Okay Bones.”  Jane smiles up at him, the twin of Jim’s smile.  He shakes that thought from his mind.

“Okay, now that is weird.”

“You don’t say, Scotty.”  Jim pats the man on the shoulder.  

With Jim and Scotty’s help, they manage to get Jane out of the Jefferies tubes.  An even larger crowd of crewmen seem to have formed.  

Leonard rolls his eyes.  He’s about to grouch to give the lady some space that this isn’t a spectacle when Jane gasps.  

“Oh god, Bones.”  

His attention is diverted back to Jane.  Jim and Scotty are wide eyed.  “Get her on the stretcher.”  He doesn’t need his tricorder to know this is the one they been waiting for.

It’s like Moses parting the Red Sea as they carry her to the stretcher.  “Jim, Scotty.”  He snaps at them. They understand as they each grab one of her legs.

“Come on Jane.”  The baby is almost crowning at this point.  It’s dark black mass of hair is pushing even further outwards.

She pushes and pushes.

Leonard almost thinks the baby will be out within the next few pushes.

She’s doing well until she isn’t.  There is a momentary panicked thought that crosses his mind that it’s due to her advanced age.  

Because she’s not twenty-five.  In fact, she’s more than three times that amount from what he has gathered.

And even Kirk’s with all their stamina and cocky attitude, biology is biology.  Childbirth isn’t even easy for the young.

Her face is flushed.  Her greying locks are covered in sweat.  She looks exhausted.  Leonard is afraid she’s not going to last.  He curses to himself when he sees the time on the chrono.   It’s been over an hour as opposed to what should have been moments.

A larger crowd has gathered.  M’Benga and Chapel have arrived long ago.  Chapel to assist him and M’Benga to assist the infant when its born.

They are cheering her on.  He knows it’s probably the only reason she has lasted this long.

He’s thrown back into the moment when Jane cries out.  

“Come on Jane push.”

“Push Admiral.”

“Push!”

“I am!” She screams.  She bites her lips and throws herself forward, gripping the underside of her thighs as Jim and Scotty support her feet.  

“Come on.”

“Push lassie.”

“Push.”

“Almost there.”  Leonard gently pushes aside her lips.  He supports her lower lips to prevent further tearing.  

Chapel presses a towel without being asked.

It’s like they are molding in that crew Jane had told him about.

“I feel like you’ve been saying that for hours.”

“It’s true, dear.”  He drawls out, his accent thickens.  His eyes softens.

Like always, Jim says what he doesn’t.

“There’s its nose.”   Jim gasps.  “And ears, just like her daddy.”   Jim is gushing.  

“Those are Vulcan ears.” Scotty exclaims. He looks at Jane, then Jim. A slow realization crosses his mind, and Leonard has to remind himself that Scotty was there with Jim when he met the other Spock.

The older one…

The one that isn’t here.

Who let his pregnant… whatever…

And suddenly Leonard is angry.

Angry at a man he doesn’t know. That Spock just left her. After years of supposed friendship...

“Bones?”

It takes him out of his thoughts.  He sees Jane more closely surrounded by alternate versions of her crew.  Who are there for her.  He realizes.  She's not alone. She'll never be alone here.  She and her baby will be loved even if her Spock never finds out.

"It's head is out."   Leonard tells her.

She falls back exhausted.  There are tears in her eyes.

"Aren't you a beauty."  Leonard coos at the tiny infant covered in blood and vernix.  He accepts the suction bulb from Chapel and suctions out the baby's mouth and noses.  He gently wipes away some of the sludge before looking up again.

"Wherever you're ready."

Jane nods. She pushes.  

Strong and sure…

She pushes…

And slowly…

The crew is cheering and clapping in the background.

But Leonard barely registers any of it.  

He can’t help but feel a tug in his heart as the rest of baby slides into his hands.  It’s so tiny and beautiful.  He doesn’t even realize he’s crying, crying with Jim, and Jane and even the crew that have gathered.

Crew members he doesn’t even know their name…

But who he feels like he has spent a lifetime with.

Maybe because it’s due to all the horrors they have just been through.

_Death, destruction…_

“Bones?”  He looks at Jane and Jim and back at the infant in his hands.  

“It’s a girl.”  The tiny, bloody infant cries in his hands.  She has a big beautiful blue eyes.

He places the baby onto Jane’s now deflated abdomen.

She breaks out into larger tears as she pulls the baby towards her chest.  She runs her fingers over her tiny pointy ears, Vulcan ears.

“Leonarda.”  

Both he and Jim blink.  His mouth drops open.

“Leonarda Amanda Kirk,” she amends.

Jim breaks into laughter.  The rest of the crew who have gathered soon follow.

“It’s a fine name,” he says indignantly.

Because it is...

Damn it.


	5. Chapter 5

_Five months on_

“Peek a boo!”

Baby Lena giggles.  He hears a similar laugh from his side.  He turns to see Jim and Jane standing there.  There are fond smiles on their faces.

It’s been six months since Lena was born in the wake of her alternate universe’s father’s home world's destruction.  It still makes Leonard’s head hurt thinking about _that_.

A destruction that cost Starfleet four classes of cadets, able officers, and starships.  That left parts of San Francisco reeling from destruction.

She had been one of the only good things to come from it all.  One of the only things that makes them smile, remember why they do what they do, and why they can't drown in the fact they survived when so many of their classmates didn’t.

Leonard kisses the little girl against her cheeks.  She looks at Leonard with her big blue eyes, and then to her mother.

The ends of Lena’s lips curl upwards.  

“Hungry baby girl?”  Jane steps forward and picks her up.  She offers her daughter her boob, which Lena happily latches on to.  

Both he and Jim are impressed.

“So it’s true, Vulcan babies rarely cry.”

Jane laughs as she runs her fingers over her daughter’s tiny pointy ears as she sits down next to Leonard.  “Unfortunately not, she wakes up half the block with her cries.”  She rubs her daughter’s cheeks.  “Don’t you baby girl?”  She looks down at her daughter fondly.

“I’m sure Uhura’s going to love that.”  Jim walks over and curls around Leonard.  He notices the momentarily wishful look on Jane’s face.

The dark horse in the room…

That elder Spock, Spock Prime as they have come to call him, doesn’t know.  

He may be the only one that doesn’t know.

Their Spock, not that Leonard really thinks of him as theirs.  Unlike Jim who seems to have forgiven the Vulcan for marooning him on an ice planet, Leonard isn’t so easy to forgive.  He barely tolerates the green hobgoblin.

However, even _their_ Spock has seen the baby, once.

Unlike Jim, who has basically named himself and Leonard Lena’s honorary godfathers and coolest uncles in the universe, it seems Spock wants to keep the little girl at arm’s length.

While Jim has showered the little girl with gifts and affection, Spock has been stoic at best.

Their one and only meeting had been when Lena was only hours old.  Bathed, checked and swaddled against Jane’s chest and hungrily sucking at her third meal, she definitely has an appetite like a Kirk.  Spock had walked into med bay.

It had been deep into gamma shift with only a skeleton crew in operation.  Jim was already sleeping, and Leonard himself was planning on joining him after checking up on Jane and Lena one last time for the night.

He would never forget the look on Spock’s face when he saw them.  How he just stopped mid step, his mouth partly open.

Jane had turned to the sound.  Even she hadn't known what to say, which Leonard had thought for a Kirk was rare.  However, the way she looked at him.  There was a fondness, a love, a regret and so much more rolled up into one that made him understand.  

At the same time, he had made himself a promise that such an expression would never cross his Jim’s face as long as he lived.

It was baby Lena who broke the silence.  She had let out an indignant squeak that shook them all out of their stupor.

Jane was the first to recover.  “There, there, baby girl.”  She cooed calmly at her daughter as she placed her over her shoulder and patted her back.  Jane had slipped into motherhood as easily as Jim had slipped into being a captain.  The little girl let out a resounding burp that rattled some of the medical bottles.

Definitely took after Jim in that regard.

She then turned back to Spock.  There was a half smile on her lips.

“Would you like to hold her?”

Spock had hesitated for a moment before nodding.  The transfer was almost flawless, like an art they had perfected over years that only one of them should have had.

Spock had cradled that baby like she was his own.  Like he had done it a million times before.

And when he looked at her, along with the fondness, Leonard swore he also saw -a hint of sadness, of regret.

And really Leonard could understand _that_.

Because no matter what they did, an alternate version of this little girl could never exist in this universe.

He passed her back quickly.  

“Thank you.”  

And then he turned and almost ran out the door.

 

XXXXXXX

  
It hadn’t been Leonard who went to seek out Spock Prime.  His mama had taught him to mind his own business.  As much as he wanted to, because even though Jane wasn’t Jim, she like Jim had worked her magic and gotten under his skin like Jim had nearly three years ago. 

Then there was baby Lena.  

The cutest little thing…

Was it a crime to want the best thing for them both?  

That he wanted Lena to have both her parents around.

Although she was definitely not lacking in love...

Still, he did not go seek out older Spock even after he learned the elder Vulcan was on Earth.

In fact, Leonard hadn’t even been thinking about Jane, or Lena or even Spock Prime when the Vulcan walked into his office that early summer afternoon.

He would later learn that Spock Prime had paid similar visits to Sulu, Chekov, and Uhura before coming to see him.

He immediately knew it was the older Spock from that other universe, the one Jane had come from.  Even though he had only spent a brief amount of time with _their_ Spock on the Enterprise and then after, he immediately knew who this elder Vulcan was.  There was a way he carried himself, his mannerism and that _look_ on his face.  They were all undeniably Spock.

It was Spock Prime who spoke first.

“Dr. McCoy.”

“Ambassador Spock.”  

He seems to visibly relax.

“You know who I am.”

“I do.”

“I have deduced you are not pleased to see me, Doctor.”

“No, I’m not.”  He answers truthfully because the other asked.  

Because at that moment little Lena’s happy smile appears in his mind…

Because Jane’s bittersweet smile that appears on her face every time she sees Lena, every time Lena crosses a milestone in her development crosses his mind.

She is crawling already.  

She’s six months old and this Vulcan standing in front of him doesn’t even know she exists.

“Will you tell me why?  I can not fathom what I have done to earn your wrath, Leonard.”

He says it like they have known each other for years, which Leonard thinks warily for this Spock they have.  But he isn't _that_ Leonard.  Just like Jane isn’t Jim and this Spock isn’t _their_ Spock.

But there is a little girl that needs her father.

So he does it for her and for Jane.

“Jane.”  He answers curtly.

There seems to be regret in the older Vulcan’s face.  “I am deeply sorry about the mind meld I performed on Jim.  It was…”

_Mind meld…_

Leonard feels his stomach twist uncontrollably.  Jim finally told him about it later.  The images in had seen of that universe.  He had seen glimpses of that other life, the one Jane had lived in.

“I assumed Jim would have told you.  My Jane also confided in many things to my Leonard.”

Leonard doesn’t know how he feels about _that_.  The my’s that Spock uses.  He isn’t Spock’s much like how Jane isn’t Spock’s.  They aren’t possessions to be owned.

“I deeply regret the transference of those emotions to him especially when in return I learned how your Jim feels about you.”  There seems to be an almost pained look on the other Vulcan’s face.  

“I am glad that my interference has not dissuade your Jim from entering into a relationship with you.”

That does surprise Leonard though. 

“I am happy for my old friends.”

He shakes those thoughts away because like Jim had said.  The them in that other universe isn’t them.  It doesn’t matter what happened, could have happened and would have happened in that universe.  They aren’t those people.

This is about Jane and baby Lena, and his anger returns.

He doesn’t care that the other Spock notices.  “It seems that is not what has earned your ire.”

“No, no it isn’t.  It’s because you left Jane alone to save Romulus.  Because despite the fact you knew she had always been afraid of being alone, of being abandoned you still left her.”  The words slip from Leonard’s mouth before he can contain them.  

The older Vulcan opens and closes his mouth.  When he does speak, Leonard wishes he hadn’t.  Leonard mentally wonders how many infractions and demerits he would get for punching this other Spock.  

“You also left her.  In time you will also leave your Jim as you had in my world.”  

“I really wished you had not said that.  I do not know why that Leonard left her, but I am not that Leonard.”

He waves his hand like what Leonard is saying is ridiculous.  “It is the truth.  As true as it was in my universe, as it will be true in this universe.  Vulcans do not lie.”

Leonard blinks.  “Bullshit.  You told Jim that you couldn’t see this universe’s Spock when you knew it was untrue.”

Spock Prime blinks.  “How?”

“Because Jim has met his counterpart, your Jane.”  Leonard narrows his eyes.  “And the world did not implode.”

“She’s here?”  A pained looked crosses older Spock’s face.

“Yes, I can’t fathom why, but it seems she cares for you more than you do her.”

“I care deeply for her.”

“Uh huh.”  Leonard crosses his arms.  “So deeply that left you pregnant.  So deeply that despite the fact you are telepathic and knew about her feelings for years, you still decided to string her along.”

He’s almost sorry when he sees just how stricken the other Spock has become.

There is a sharp intake of a breath before he speaks again.  “She’s with a child?”

“Was.”  

Spock Prime pales.

Leonard quickly amends.  “She gave birth on the Enterprise after Jim took down Nero.”  He softens.  “To the prettiest, sweetest little thing ever.”

The elder Spock sits down.  He looks like he has aged a million years, and Leonard almost feels guilty.

“I...I did not know.  If I had…” He trails off.

“You can still fix it if you want.  I’m only telling you just because she deserves happiness even with you.  Because the babe deserves a father.”  Leonard glares at the older Vulcan.  He seems smaller and less imposing, almost human.  “She’s staying near Jim and me.”  Leonard glances at the clock.  “My shifts ends in ten minutes.  I’ll take you there.”

“Thank you, Leonard.”

“Don’t thank me. Be there for them.”  He almost says the ‘or else’ but holds back at the last second.

There is a part of him that tells himself that he doesn’t have to, but he still does.

 

XXXXXXX

 

At the last minute, he sends Jim a message.  

_Going to see Jane and Lena.  Bringing Spock Prime._

He’s thankful that Jim doesn’t call him or send him any questions.  Instead he responds with a short message ‘ _at_ _her apartment’._ Leonard feels his heart swell when he reads it.  It’s a testament of just how much Jim trusts and understands him.

It doesn’t take very long for them to reach the apartment.  He glances at Spock Prime once more before ringing the doorbell.  The door slides open to admit them.

Jane is sitting on the couch with Lena and Jim.  “Bones.”  She smiles.  “You know you don’t have to ring.”  She rolls her eyes even as she speaks. 

He doesn’t say anything.  He simply steps to the side.  When Jane’s face pales, he wonders if he should have approached this situation differently.

“Spock?”

“It is I.”

There are tears in Jane’s eyes.  

It is little Lena that breaks the silence that follows.  Jane smiles.  She bounces the baby on her lap.  “Damn it Spock.  Come here and meet your daughter.”

And Leonard knows.  He knows he did the right thing.  He feels Jim’s warm fingers curl around his own.  

“You did good, Bones,” Jim whispers. They look back at the small but complete family one more time before slipping out of the apartment.

 

XXXXXXX

 

“You take care of her, you hear.  Her and your daughter.  You treat her right like she deserves.  Not that half ass around the tent pole a hundred years crap.”

“I will Leonard.”

“Good.”

Baby Lena giggles in Jane’s arms.  He takes her from her one last time.  

“You be good.  Mind your mother and father, they can be trying at times.  And emotions are good, no matter what your green blooded hobgoblin of a father might say.  And if you need anything Uncle Bones and Uncle Jim are just a subspace frequency away.”

He looks up to see Jim and Jane grinning.

“Uncle Bones?”

“Shut up, Jim.”  Because with Jane as the kid’s mother and Jim as the kid’s godfather, Leonard knows he’ll be fighting a losing battle.  The kid will definitely end up calling him ‘Uncle Bones’.

He kisses the baby one more time before giving her back to Jane.

He falls back next to Jim who looks a little teary eyed.  He slips his fingers around Jim’s.  With the other, he maneuvers his fingers into what could maybe pass for a ta’al.  

They watch as the small family disappears into a beam of light.  

“You think we’re have one of our own someday?”

Leonard raises an eyebrow.

“What you talking about?”

“A baby.”

His eyebrow shoots skyward, but when he turns to look at Jim and down at their interconnected fingers.  He realizes what Jim had just said.

That he means it.

That he’s in it for the long haul.

“Someday.”

“Someday,” Jim repeats back.

 

**_FIN_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with that, this fic comes to a close. I hope you all enjoyed it. It was definitely fun to write.
> 
> Thank you all for coming along for the ride. 
> 
> ^.^


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